Russian opposition promises more protests after hundreds of arrests

Russian opposition activists have promised more protests after police arrested over 500 on demonstrations against alleged fraud in Sundays’ general election. One social networking group says they will take place every evening at 7pm local time.

Reutes

Police have arrested 569 people attending an unauthorised rally in central Moscow on Tuesday evening, an anonymous law enforcement source told Itar-Tass news agency.

By Wednesday morning six people, among them well-known political blogger Alexei Navany, had been given prison terms of up to 15 days, according to Moscow Echo radio.

The protest followed a similar one on Monday, where the turnout took the authorities by surprise.

President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party claim saw its 64 per cent share of the vote in the 2007 election fall to just under 50 per cent but it still holds an absolute majority in parliament, with the Communist Party being the biggest opposition group in the State Duma.

The opposition claims that only dirty tricks prevented the being much lower.

OSCE-led election observers said the polls were biased towards United Russia.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that they were neither free nor fair, a comment the Russian foreign ministry described as “unacceptable”.

A Facebook group “for honest elections” has called a demonstration in central Moscow on Saturday afternoon, while another, “against the party of swindlers and thieves”, said protests would take place every day at 19h00 local time.